Loathing of leadership is not solely a Syrian issue

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned during Senate secretary of state confirmation hearings for John Kerry (D-Mass.) that a U.S. failure to intervene in Syria’s civil war could result in future retaliation of American by that country’s youth.

McCain, who recently visited the Mideast along with other senators, relayed a message from a Syrian teacher who predicted that the “next generation of (Syrian) children will take revenge on those that did not help them.”

McCain stated the United States should intervene in a Syrian civil war that has left more than 60,000 killed.

The Arizona senator said Syrian refugees feel “an anger and frustration” and believe that the United States displays minimal concern about a serious suffering of Syrians being controlled by leader Bashar Al-Assad.

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McCain said the U.S. “(is) sowing the wind in Syria and we are going to reap the whirlwind.”

Political leaders may be correct about their thoughts on Syria but they apparently have missed what’s going on in American cities where a relentless African American carnage continues.

The McCain statement could easily read the “next generation of (black) American children will take revenge on those that did not help.”

America remains in Trojan Horse mode as disenfranchised citizens build up a hate for their own country, loathing all leaders regardless of their color, credo or stated desires for intervention to a never-ending stream of violence, poverty, blight and crime.

In urban areas throughout the U.S. budget constraints have forced a reduction of police which bolsters crime statistics, including shootings, robberies and murder. What we see in places like Camden, St. Louis, Detroit and other urban hubs is a regeneration of unemployment, drug dealers and loss of hope.

Unequal education has made a comeback in urban conversations where people believe the government turns away as a flood of guns and drugs drown any belief of potential improvement.

If you want a barometer on a growing disrespect of the United States by Americans, just check out any Trenton-area basketball game before the National Anthem plays. A recent visit to a Colonial Valley Conference game showed an unexpected number of young African American men who did not take off their caps or hats.

This may seem like a minor infringement on democracy but it represents an ocean spray of a coming wave of people who have disengaged from hope, separated from any belief that their lives not only could be better but will be better.

Death by murder or heroin overdose are accepted because a current of suffering has stripped away all veneers of life purpose. They are born. They struggle or observe an endless uphill fight to pay bills or simply make-do. They die.

Old age become badges of honor in hardscrabble black neighborhoods. Thirty years on earth seem like a godsend while 70 years of age represents a fictional tale.

While the U.S. remains a place for dream weavers we seem to disavow the millions of sufferers, those people left at the station, locked in a loss of anything good or decent. Whether they penned or did not write their personal tragedy the blame is passed onto others, especially political leaders, city council members. mayors, senators, congress representatives and presidents.

A vacuum of opportunity produces legions of people who dislike America.

Sure, future Syrians may hate us but a mother lode of self-hate can be discovered inside bloodlines of African Americans, the poor, and approximately 14 million undocumented immigrants who deserve a fair shot at citizenship but instead face a daily water torture of being found out, poor wages, unscrupulous landlords, and a criminal element that preys on them, knowing that illegal victims will not report their situations to police.

A cultivation of peace in Syria may require more than economic sanctions coupled with drone attacks but this McCain doctrine for intervention needs a reverse pivot toward America.

Sure, the U.S. has a responsibility to challenge any nation about human suffering but first we must take care of our own. Those same senators who traveled to the Mideast need to create an itinerary that escorts them to Newark, Chicago, Baltimore, Flint, Atlantic City, Oakland, Chester, Memphis, Philadelphia, etc.

The wind is up in these urban cities.

McCain may be right about a whirlwind.

L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@Trentonian.com.